Did you do a search in the repair thread?I am not sure, it is possibly a pen mark although not from me because I have a strict no pen rule in my purses. I thought it might be dirt so I tried wiping it off, but to no avail. Then I tried scratching the surface to see if it would just flick off, but obviously that just made it worse. It absolutely has to get replaced, I would never carry this bag again looking like this. I’m just wondering how much it’s going to cost and was curious if anyone else had ever got their handle replaced and what price info was out there… I have only had this bag for a month!